


Amy De Niro

by henghost



Series: Amy Obsession [2]
Category: Parahumans Series - Wildbow
Genre: F/F, Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-17
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-06-29 23:40:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 5,074
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19840954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/henghost/pseuds/henghost
Summary: Jen Crantz, a prostitute on Earth Shin, tells the story of her encounters with Amy Dallon.





	1. Chapter 1

“You ever see that movie  _ Taxi Driver _ ? It’s from Aleph, so maybe not.”

“No.”

“Yeah, I thought so. I’m really into Aleph’s movies. There are some really good ones if you look hard enough. But I really like this one called  _ Taxi Driver _ . It’s from maybe thirty years before Gold Morning. And the star of its name is Robert De Niro. That’s the actor’s name, not the name of the character. He’s  _ so  _ hot, oh my god. You know, normally I’m more into chicks, generally, but he really does it for me. He’s got a kind of humble, like, appeal. It’s hard to explain. 

“Anyway, it’s always been a fantasy of mine, you know, since I started working as a prostitute. That’s your word for it, isn’t it? Prostitute? Yeah, I’ve always fantasized about that movie because De Niro saves a prostitute in it. It’s like he becomes a vigilante and saves this girl— another famous actress, Jodie Something, is her name— from this, like, really abusive pimp. And I’ve always kinda wished something like that would happen to me. Spoilers, sorry— you should watch it, though, if you ever get your hands on a copy. Not that anyone at the Dragon is abusive. Not that they’re especially kind, either. But I always would daydream that someone would save me. Of course, it was usually someone nicer than  _ her _ , in my fantasies.”

“Which brings us to your purpose here today. Tell us what happened, the whole story, and assume we don’t know anything.”

“You want me to start from the beginning?”

“Yes. And state your name and age for the record.”

“Alright. My name is Jennigal K. Crantz, but call me Jen. And I’m nineteen years old. From the beginning?”

“Yes, please, Ms. Crantz.”

“Call me Jen.”  
“...”

“Okay, from the beginning. Well, okay, so I’d been working at the Dragon— the Double-headed Dragon, but everyone just calls it the Dragon— for almost a year. Things were going well. I mean, I say ‘well.’ It was what you’d expect for fucking for pay, which is to say, not  _ amazing _ . But all things considered, pretty good. 

“Then he showed up. 

“I mean, he looked like any other john, you know. Conspicuously inconspicuous. Skin a little darker than mine. Tall. 

“The way— well, I guess you know this since you’ve been there— but the way the Dragon is set up is so that we, the girls, can stand in our doorways and, you know, pose seductively, and the ‘clients’ can stroll down the corridor and select us like we’re lobsters in one of those fancy restaurants. 

“And so this john showed up, and he walks up to me and points at me, and he says, ‘How much are you?’ Which, you think you might get used to a question like that, working in my industry, but it’s always kind of shocking. Your first instinct is always to slap him or run away or something. But you’ve gotta put on a show, right, so I answered him and bent forward a little bit, you know. He was really quiet, this guy. Like, most of the customers are always kind of trying to make it seem like they’re not nervous or intimidated by shouting and being rowdy and… touchy. But this guy wasn’t self-conscious at all. It was like he was on a mission. Ha. 

“And so I told him how much and what I was willing to do and so on. He nodded, paid up front. And I was thinking this guy was going to be a good client. It’s pretty rare that you get someone who’s polite and doesn’t haggle about the price and isn’t, you know,  _ un _ attractive. So I wasn’t worried, really. I mean, obviously I should’ve been, but I wasn’t. 

“So we went into my little room, which still stinks of sex no matter how many of those little cones I buy, and I started to undress. And he looked at me like I was some kind of alien. Like he didn’t know what I was doing. He started shaking his head, and he had this long dark hair in a pony-tail and it was swinging around, is how hard he was shaking his head. I mean, don’t get me wrong, he was still a straight human male, so his breath got a little quicker, I could tell. God, I was so beautiful…”

“...”

“...”

“Ms. Crantz? We can get the nurse back in here if you need it.”

“No no, it’s alright. Right, okay, so anyway, he was confused at me undressing. So I said, ‘What’s the matter?’ and he just got up right next to me and breathed all heavy on my face. His breath, I distinctly remember, smelled like citrus. You know, like lemons and oranges. It wasn’t, like, unpleasant, but it was definitely weird. Yeah, he got right up next to me, and also I remember I was starting to get really scared. I mean, that  _ is _ something you get used to. The eccentric clients. But this guy… It was like there was nothing behind his eyes. 

“And I tried to pull away from him, but he grabbed me by the wrists and then he hit me for the first time. And, oh my god, I’d never been hit before by someone who was actually intent on hurting me, as hard as that may be to believe. But it hurt  _ a lot, _ is what I’m trying to say. Then before I could even process what was happening, he hit me again— my stomach, this time. It was so fast. And he hit me again and again and I fell to the floor and then he started to kick me. It’s hard to overstate how fast this all was. Less than thirty seconds, I’d imagine. Then when I managed to look up, he was gone— zero trace. I think he probably had powers. Did you guys ever find him? I gave you his description when you first picked me up, right?”

“I can’t tell you that, Jen.” 

“It’s not really important. I mean, he’s not even the worst monster in this story, right? Ha ha. Okay, then, yeah, so I was there bleeding on the floor. My jaw was broken, I think, so I couldn’t even yell for help. I lay there on the floor— I don’t know how long. Maybe ten minutes, maybe an hour. One of those situations, you know? It hurt a shitton. Sorry, can I swear?”

“Go ahead.”

“Yeah, a shitton, then. Worse pain than anything I’ve ever felt in my life. Physically, at least. So when she showed up the first time, it was like an angel descending from heaven. And my vision was all blurry on account of my swollen eyes, and so it really, honest to god, looked like she was an angel descending from on high. 

“And she knelt down beside me and lowered her face to the ground so she could see eye to eye with me, and I couldn’t really hear what she was saying but the tone of it was kind and sweet, and she put her hand on my back and within an instant I was, well, fine. I mean, that’s actually kind of understatement, right? Ha ha. Because it was better than fine. Better than normal. The best I’ve ever felt ever. And so I looked up, all dopey now, and saw her face for the first time. And obviously I was totally in love, right from the start. Which, can you blame me? I mean, literally she was a knight in shining armor, prince— or princess— charming. Well, not literally, but you know what I mean.

“I mean, it kind of makes me sick to think about this now, but her face, with the light coming down all around it like a stained glass scene— she was so beautiful. And I was thinking, oh my god, she’s my Robert De Niro. The same kind of down to earth beauty. The freckles, the almost callused texture of her hands. I was— and, again, I feel sick to my stomach remembering this— but I was seriously going to kiss her right there and then.

“And she touched me again, and I could see clearly. I told her, ‘Thank you.’

“And she said, ‘Uh, don’t worry about it.’ Then she said, ‘Oh, um, by the way, I’m really sorry about this, but my power… changes things about you.’

“I said, ‘What kind of things?’

“She said, ‘Nothing big, really. Um, anyway, my name’s Amy.’

“‘Really, Amy, it’s not a big deal,’ I said. ‘I’m so grateful. Really, anything I can do to make it up to you, I won’t hesitate. Please.’ And part of me wanted to, you know, bring up my job and say something about giving her a discount, if you see what I’m saying.”

“Did she really sound like that?”

“What?”

“That voice you’re doing for her, did she really sound like that?”

“Mm, not really, I guess. But I promise I’m repeating what she said, you know, verbatim.  She really said all this, I swear. Anyway, after I said I wanted to make it up to her, she kind of grinned a little bit and pushed her curly dark hair out of her face— the reason I can remember all this detail, by the way, is because at this point I was totally head over heels, right— but she pushed her hair out of her face and she gave me a card with presumably her phone number on it, and she said, ‘Well, huh, I guess the only thing I can ask in return, because I mean really this was no trouble at all, is that you call me sometime.’

“And I was too, I guess, dumbstruck to respond to that, so I let her walk away, and I memorized the number on her card. Then I stood up, went to the mirror to see if I had any remaining wounds, you know, and I yelled a little bit, because my hair had turned entirely blonde. And of course now that doesn’t seem so bad, at least, you know, in comparison. But it really scared me right then. I guessed that was what she meant by her power changing things about you. Oh god, can I take a break actually? Talking about all this— it’s bringing up bad memories.”

“Sure, you’ve been very helpful Mi— Jen. You want me to bring you anything?”

“Um, I’m fine. Maybe, like, a soda of some kind— doesn’t really matter what kind.”

“I can check and see what they have.”

“Thanks. Before you go, though, you never told me your name.”

“I’m Detective Donna Farkle.”

“It’s been nice talking to you, Donna. I was worried when I got picked up that I’d end up talking to some kind of wrinkly, red-faced old guy, but you’re, you know, easy on the eyes.”

“Uh… thank you. I’ll get you a soda. Then you can continue your story.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jen and Amy get closer.

“It’s slightly embarrassing to have to drink like this, Donna.”

“Don’t be embarrassed. Stay focused.”

“I know. I mean, I’m basically used to it at this point. But to be like this in front of someone like you, Donna. It’s going to take some serious, you know, grit on my behalf to get through it.”

“So you were saying she turned your hair blonde— that was the first thing you noticed.”

“You know, I’ve always been obsessed with movies from Aleph. That’s one of the reasons I can speak this language so well. Not to brag. But compared to the, like, cinematic tradition here on Shin— which it feels like I’m giving it too much credit by saying ‘tradition’ — they’re miles ahead. Old ones, especially. Gimel’s been putting out some that are  _ fine _ . But these movies from—”

“Jen, is it alright if we move on in your story?” 

“I like horror movies the most, I think.  _ The Exorcist, Psycho.  _ Those are pretty great ones. The thing about horror movies is that I often find they’re somehow more — what’s the word? — like, it’s easier to escape into them, you know what I mean? They take your mind off things more. Because they’re closer to real life. Real life is one overblown horror movie, believe me. But also there’s an element of fantasy in the movies that takes your mind off the horror or at least softens the blow. And most times there’s a happy ending. Well, maybe not happy, but there’s resolution most of the time. And all the tension that—”

“We can get the nurse again, Jen, if you need it.”

“The tension you feel gets lifted and it’s calming and, you know, cathartic. There’s one from around the same time as  _ Taxi Driver  _ that’s called  _ Texas Chainsaw Massacre _ . You probably don’t know what Texas is, which is just as well because it probably doesn’t exist anymore. Doesn’t matter. But in this movie there’s, like, this gang of kids, roughly my age, and they’re driving through Texas— which is a place— they’re driving through Texas in the summer and there are some crazy people there. Like, they find this house, and it looks like no one’s home at first, and so they go in, and obviously there’s a crazy guy with a chainsaw, and the titular massacre begins.

“And you learn more and more about this fucked up family— the family of the crazy guy with the chainsaw. But the thing that really gets me about this movie, right, is that this gang of college kids, they see their friends go into this house, and they don’t come out, despite a lot of name-hollering and that kind of thing. They see their friends go into this house, and they go after them. They just walk right into that house after them, Donna! They just keep going in there, like moths to lights. It fucks me up, Donna. I can’t even really articulate why. But it’s so scary. I mean, I like to think that if I was in that situation that I’d be a little more, you know, prudent in my response to the disappearance of my friends. There’s some resolution in this movie, at least. I think at least one of the kids escape the massacre— spoilers again, sorry.” 

“Jen, we really need you to—”

“Okay, fine, I get it. It’s just, I needed to think about something else for a second. But yes, okay, she turned my hair blonde, and it was scary, for sure. Not like horror movie scary, ha ha. More like real-world scary, you know. Where you’re put a little off-guard, but the world continues to move around you, and so you don’t have time to, like, center yourself. But obviously the high from Amy touching me was rushing through my body still, so it wasn’t really much of a big deal.

“I was thinking ahead to when it would be appropriate to call her. Like, it was all I could think about. You know, after all the fallout from, you know, what happened, I thought that maybe my obsession with her at this stage was somehow caused by her touch, like maybe she warped my brain somehow— I’ve heard that’s happened before. But I honestly don’t think so. I think, to be one hundred percent honest, it was totally genuine, this obsession. It was some kind of fantasy. A fantasy that was completely distinct, mind you, from reality. But sometimes I get caught up in fantasy. It’s a bad habit, I know. I made her out to be this great savior in my mind. And that, I think, is what I’d been hoping for all that time I’d been working at the Dragon. Like, I don’t want to go into so much detail, but it’s safe to say being, you know, a sex worker wasn’t my dream career, and obviously some let’s say unfortunate events in my life had driven me to it. Which, I don’t want to sound like I’m playing the victim, at least not about this, but it wasn’t my first choice, that situation, and Amy presented a potential way out of it.

“Anyway, right, so I think I made it about five or six hours before I called her. She picked up on the first ring, which probably should’ve been, you know, a bad omen, but I was too caught up in the excitement to really care, and I told her, before she could even speak I told her that I really absolutely didn’t care one bit that she turned me blonde, that in fact I even liked it a little more than my old black hair, and that I would really like more than anything to take her out somewhere, for dinner or drinks or something, just so I could, you know, repay her somehow. And she giggled at me— not with me,  _ at  _ me— and she said I was just  _ too  _ kind, and how could she turn down an offer like that. God, it makes me sick, remembering this— I said that, didn’t I? Like I’m going to fucking vomit right here on this table, if my biology isn’t too fucked up for even that.

“Sorry. Anyway, we ended up going to this place across town, which is to say it was on the nice side of town. She was wearing a dress, I remember, a red evening-gown type thing that made me feel, frankly, a little intimidated— I was wearing, you know, jeans— but also, obviously, it made me feel overcome with I guess desire. I don’t know if that’s the right word. It was kind of like when a dog’s owner comes home, and they, the dog, gets so excited and jumps and slobbers all over the owner. 

“We ate— her treat— and she was giving me this kind of smug grin all throughout, like she knew how totally infatuated I was. And she was wearing this sort of ultra-red lipstick, which was the exact shade, I think, that I’d seen in one of those old Aleph movies. 

“She said, ‘You know, I’m really sorry I made you blonde.’

“And I said, ‘ It’s honestly fine, seriously. I mean, it’s a small price to pay for saving my life.’

“She said, ‘I could probably change it back if you wanted me to. Though it might be a little dangerous.’

“‘Dangerous how?’ I asked. 

“She said, ‘I guess my power’s, like, prone to malfunction. It’s probably not very dangerous.’

“And I had to think about that for a second, then I said, ‘I like it. It means I’ll always remember you, right?’ And isn’t that so fucked up, Donna, knowing how all this, you know, ends?

“Do you, you know, have someone in your life, Donna?”

“Why?”

“Like a boyfriend or a husband or…”

“But why are you asking?”

“It’s just… we’re in here, in this closed-off metallic room, and it’s just us— well, I know there’s probably someone behind this mirror— but it’s just us, for the most part. And we might as well get to know each other, right?”

“It might be better to keep things professional, Jen.”

“Maybe. But I’ve been staring at you, Donna, for, what, half an hour now, and I guess I’d like to know more about you. Like, on a personal level.”

“Tell you what, when you get to the end of your story, I’ll give you my number, my personal number, and you can ask me whatever you want. But only if you finish your story.”

“That’s a tantalizing offer, Donna. Really tantalizing. It might just be worth it, even if this whole set-up is humiliating and degrading and I don’t think I’d like to ever do anything like this ever again.”

“So what happened after your dinner with Amy?”

“Ha, you’re all business, huh? That’s kind of what I like about you, Donna.”

“...”

“Fine, okay. Right, yeah, so after dinner, which was really just pretense, you know, we went back to her place. It was so, like, ornate. I didn’t know about her political position— I’ve never followed politics. So it was a little surprising.

“I guess you could say I was nervous, although when I’m nervous I don’t really act like I’m nervous. I try to cover up, is what I’m saying. But I was. Nervous, I mean. And she took me up to her room, past all these paintings and sculptures— you could tell she was really into the human form— and into her  _ huge  _ master bedroom. It was all red. And I got close to her and asked, ‘Can I touch your hair,’ because really, Donna, the way the light was catching it, the sleek brown curls— it was all I could do to not jump on her right there.

“But then, get this, she started to cry. I mean just sobbing and weeping into her hands. And I was saying, ‘What’s wrong? What’s wrong?’ But she wouldn’t answer. She wrapped her arms around me and put her face into my shoulder, and I could feel the vibrations of her sobs, and I was so worried. What had I done? 

“But gradually she calmed down, and I got her to tell me what was going on. ‘It’s just the first time I’ve ever done something like this,’ she said. 

“‘What, like a one-night stand?’ I said

“‘She said, ‘I mean… I mean I’ve never slept with someone. And Jen, I’m so sorry. Just touching you just now— it was like a blast of light in my head, and I’m, like I said, prone to malfunction, and I just… Is this what you really want?’

“And I told her of course this was what I wanted, that it didn’t matter if she’d been with someone before or not. And she sort of smiled at me, that same almost satisfied grin, and she started to undress. Oh god, it was seriously like I was in heat when she did, so I was ripping off my own clothes, and that’s when I looked down and saw that my body was no longer mine.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Multiple climaxes.

“Donna, did you always want to be a detective?”

“What do you mean your body was no longer yours?”

“I didn’t always want to be a prostitute, obviously. I mean, you could probably guess what I wanted to be, ha ha. A filmmaker.” 

“Jen, listen, I get that you need to take your time, really, I do. But this is really important. My number is on the line, remember?”

“Another horror movie I like is  _ Black Christmas _ .”

“Jen.”

“That’s really the one that got me hooked on horror movies. On movies in general, really. I remember finishing that movie and thinking, That’s what I want to do with my life. I want to make something like that. 

“It’s got a twist, you know. Sorry again for spoiling all these movies. But at the very end, you think the killer has been, well, killed, and part of you has been thinking, ‘Well, that was scary, but maybe a little obvious.’ And they, the killer, had been calling the phone of this sorority house— it’s probably not worth explaining what higher education and stuff is like over there; all you need to know is that there were like houses so people going to the same school could stay together— but so the killer, throughout the whole movie, has been calling these young girls (who are I guess roughly my age) and saying creepy things to them. And you think that now that the killer has been caught, these creepy phone calls will stop. But the final scene, when you’re enjoying the break in tension, the phone rings again, and the credits begin to roll. And isn’t that so terrifying, Donna?”

“Look, Jen, I appreciate that you need to take your time, but you know, all this stuff is going to be on the record, and it would aid our investigation if you could, I guess, be more, uh, efficient with your storytelling.”

“Sorry. It’s just, look, I get distracted. Especially now that the, like, labyrinth of my mind is all twisted up— literally. Especially in front of you, Donna, when you’re over there looking like that, and I’m over here looking like this. God, I never thought I’d fall for a cop.”

“...”

“Oh, fine. I guess I can tell you the rest. If only for your number.”

“Thank you.”

“Where was I?”

“I think you were talking about how your body was no longer yours.”

“Right. Yeah, I’m remembering why I stopped. Okay, yes, so, right, we, Amy and I— it was getting pretty hot and heavy between us. She was naked, and I was momentarily distracted by the beautiful, albeit somewhat scrawny, curves and lines and edges of her body. But then, feeling a little self-conscious, I guess, I looked down at my own body, and I wanted to scream. I didn’t scream, but I wanted to. I didn’t scream because I didn’t want to interrupt us. But my body wasn’t mine anymore. I was honestly technically prettier. Fuller, curvier, et cetera. 

“But I didn’t want us to stop. You know, I’d never  _ really  _ had sex before. Of course, I’d participated, by nature of my profession, in the act of sex. But it was never real, you know. This was the first time I’d given consent for free, which sounds crass, maybe, but it was true. And Amy… I vividly remember the smell of her hair, somehow fruity but also savory— it’s hard to explain. And she was sighing and running her hands all over my— what was not my— body…”

“What happened after you had sex?”

“What, you don’t want to hear the gory details? It’s like a movie in my head. I can describe it in perfect detail, you know, if it’d aid your investigation.”

“I doubt it would be, uh, strictly pertinent.”

“Are you jealous, Donna? Is that what’s happening?”

“It’s just that we need to focus on anything that could help us apprehend or prosecute her.”

“Wait… You mean you haven’t done either of those things?”

“I’m sorry, Jen. It’s just a very complicated situation. There’s a lot of interdimensional politics involved. Don’t do that. The nurse said it would be bad for you to get worked up, Jen. You need to conserve your strength. Stop. Calm down.”

“What the fuck? What are you saying? That she’s still, like,  _ out there _ ?” 

“I’m sorry. But, really, your story could prove invaluable in putting her away.”

“Do you promise? Do you swear, Donna, that could really happen?”

“Sure.”

“...”

“...”

“Right, sure…  _ After the sex,  _ we lay together, nude, in her massive four-poster bed, and I drew little circles across her side with my finger. Neither of us slept. At one point, she began to cry— again.

“I asked her, in as soft a voice as I could manage, ‘What’s wrong.’

“And she, well, confessed. Shame I wasn’t recording or anything. But again, I really do swear I’m repeating what she said, word for word. I have a good memory for dialogue. She said, ‘Why are you acting like nothing happened, Jen? I fucked you up. I can’t undo it. You know that, right? I can’t undo it. Oh god, oh god. I really can’t— I’d just make things worse. Fuck fuck fuck. Why am I still so obsessed with her? I’m so sorry. I’m so so sorry, Jen. I’m such a fucking heinous fucking monster. You know it was me, right? I hired that guy to beat you up. Just so I could fix you, and I knew that then you’d fall into my arms. I’m so so so sorry. I know you can’t forgive me.’

“She went on for a while like that, mostly repeating the same things. Of course, I wasn’t really all that mad at her, even when she told me it was her fault I got beat up. We would never have met if she hadn’t done that, after all. I mean, I think I already said this, but I really don’t think she fucked with my brain at all— not with her power, at least. Maybe the reasons for it were false, but I loved her. I loved her like in all those cheesy movies, like there should’ve been big, happy orchestral played when we were together. Like a massive growth in my heart. 

“But of course, the penny had to drop at some point. Because as she was rambling and apologizing and sobbing, she was wrapped around me, her hot, hot body. And I was so caught up in making sure she knew that I really didn’t care what she’d done to me that I didn’t realize what she was doing to me. Speaking of massive growth… Which is how I ended up like  _ this _ , obviously. You probably could’ve figured that out on your own, ha ha.

“I mean, I don’t think she did it intentionally— not that that excuses her. But at some point, she looked at me, and her eyes got really wide, and she ran out of the room. I tried to run after her, but you know, I couldn’t, because of how fucked up my new biology was.  _ Is _ . And the next thing I knew, you guys came through the door, and after throwing up, got someone to carry me to the hospital.”

“I’m so sorry, Jen.”

“Well, I don’t have anyone to blame except myself, really. Don’t worry about it.”

“That’s… That’s like the opposite of true.”

“Aw, you’re sweet, Donna. I mean, I know you’re saying it out of pity, not flattery. But it still feels nice. Coming from someone like you. But it's all hopeless now. I'm doomed. In more ways than one. I just keep doing it over and over, and I keep thinking I won't be in this what you can't call a body. But of course I will be. I'm doomed. Fuck. Fuck. It's a fantasy. I'm someone who fantasizes. You're just a fantasy, and I can't keep getting lost in fantasy.”

“Oh, don’t cry. Seriously, I mean it. Here. Here’s my business card… And here’s my personal number on the back. Really, it’s fine, I’m not pitying you. Let’s go out sometime. Oh, Jen, don’t do that. It’s okay. Don’t do that. Jen. Seriously, I’ll have to call someone if you keep doing that. Jen. JEN!”


End file.
